China news; M&A decline, Mobile milestone, National Team is largest investor

The below are highlights from local Chinese news outlets, as gathered by the Asia times.

Chinese news update; M&A decline, Mobile milestone, National Team is largest investor

The below are highlights from local Chinese news outlets, as gathered by the Asia times.

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Chinese M&A Activity falling

Over the first six months of 2018, the amount of M&A activity in China fell to US$348.3 billion, a drop of 18% compared to the second half of 2017, while the number of transactions saw minor growth, according to the latest report released by PwC, The Paper reported.

Liu Yanlai, PwC’s head of private equity transactions in China and Hong Kong, said that the main reason for the significant decline in value was the reduction in large transactions.

There were 24 large-scale transactions of more than US$1 billion, down from 32 in the second half of 2017.

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Huawei releases world’s first 7nm mobile phone chip

Chinese phone maker Huawei announced it has released its self-developed phone chip, the advanced Kirin 980, the world’s first mobile chip using TSMC’s 7nm processor, The Paper reported.

Huawei has invested more than US$300 million in the R&D of the chip, which was launched in Shanghai. At present, the industry generally adopts the 10nm process, while Apple as well as Qualcomm’s next-generation chip are also expected to adopt the 7 nm process.

So far, TSMC the world’s largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, is the only company in the world that supports mass production of the 7nm process. Huawei’s flagship mobile phone Mate20 series to be released next month will be equipped with this chip.

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China’s National team largest A-shares holder

The “national team” includes the China Securities Finance Co. Ltd. and its asset management plans as well as five customized funds, the Central Huijin Investment Co. Ltd., and investment platforms under the administration of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

As of the end of June 2018, the team has held a total of 1,141 A-share companies, and the corresponding market value runs as high as 3.1 trillion yuan (US$450 billion), far exceeding the amount held by insurance institutions and public funds, which is less than 2 trillion yuan.

According to Wind terminal, as of the end of June, without taking social security funds into consideration, the three major fund holding stocks are Bank of China, ICBC and Agricultural Bank of China.

A fund holding stock refers to a stock held by a number of fund companies and accounting for more than 20% of the market capitalization.